Alan Weinkrantz

From New York City to Santiago: Starting up at Start-Up Chile

Alan Weinkrantz — Wed, 01 May 2013 16:42:36 +0000

Meet Artur Maklyarevsky CEO and Lead Designer of JuicyCanvas.com and Alan VanTaoi, Co-Founder of SimpleCrew.com. They are both from New York and shared their story of why they came to Santiago to take part in the StartupChile program.

StartupChile Company, Americanflat, Delivers Low Cost, Museum Quality Artwork – Worldwide

Alan Weinkrantz — Mon, 29 Apr 2013 07:15:55 +0000

Americanflat Founder and President, Giorgio Piccoli, moved to New York City to begin work with JPMorgan. In an attempt to decorate the walls of his tiny apartment with artwork, he was led down a path of frustration and disappointment. “I would see a great piece of large art that I wanted to purchase and the gallerist would tell me that it was north of $5,000,” says Piccoli. “I would ask if there was anything closer to my price range and they would just laugh. Right then, I knew I wanted to create a brand that was not for the art investor but for the art lover.”

As an outsider to the art world, Piccoli knew he had a vantage point to brand a concept that defied the traditional gallery system. He joined forces with Marina Reiter, Senior Curator, who is an expert art buyer and curator for several international galleries. He’s based at Santiago-based StartupChile, where I met him during my recent visit.

How Microsoft Tech Evangelist, Hans Nemarich, Advances Chile’s Startup Ecosystem

Alan Weinkrantz — Sun, 28 Apr 2013 20:30:24 +0000

Meet Hans Nemarich, Technology Evangelist for Microsoft Chile. I connected with Hans during Geek Camp in Santiago where he shared his story.

Most of my previous exposure to Microsoft’s outreach in the startup world has been at SXSW and at Microsoft Israel, where they also have their Azure Accelerator program. Hans is active in Chile’s startup ecosystem with his involvement in Startup Chile, Startup Weekend Santiago, Santiago Hackathon, and Startup on Wheels.

How to Schedule a Mentoring Session With Me on Startup PR and Strategic Communications

Alan Weinkrantz — Sat, 27 Apr 2013 20:36:33 +0000

I’m a big believer in mentoring. I do lots of speaking, taking part in startup events and with my being at Geekdom, part of our culture is to help and serve our fellow community members. While I try to invest 20% of my time doing this, reality also gets in the way – and which is why I now ask anyone who is seeking a mentoring sessions to fill out the questionnaire below. I have two options for scheduling noted in the document below.

Tech and Startup Pre Mentoring Session Quesionnaire

The Rise of the Multinational Startup: How Viralica’s Co-Founders Take Part in Two Accelerator Programs in Chile and Argentina

Alan Weinkrantz — Fri, 26 Apr 2013 13:53:42 +0000

Buenos Aires-based Tomas Franceschin and Ignacio Gutierez are examples of the rise of the multinational startup. With their startup, Virality, they are a team of five who are taking part in both StartupChile and Wayra Argentina.

Here’s their story…

How #Wayra Starts Up Argentina’s Technology Economy

Alan Weinkrantz — Thu, 25 Apr 2013 12:16:51 +0000

The first thing I look for when I visit an accelerator is the outdoor deck, the ping pong table, and the coffee machine. In all three cases, Wayra Argentina passes with flying colors. You have a greater chance of being accepted to Harvard and Stanford Business School than you do getting into this program. In this cycle’s class that I met with, some 1,800 applied for 18 spots. Here’s an after hours walk through of the facility with Lorena Andrea Suarez, Director of Business Development.

Housed in a high rise office building in Buenos Aires, Telefonica is backing this facility, along with 11 countries with 12 others around the world.

Related Content:

Background on Wayra from Telephonica

Wayra on AngelList

TechCrunch Story on Wayra

#AboveTheCode – My Presentation on Startup PR and Strategic Communications at #WayraAR – Buenos Aires

Alan Weinkrantz — Wed, 24 Apr 2013 09:46:06 +0000

Today in Buenos Aires, I was hosted by the team at Wayra Argentina where I met with startups and presented the latest iteration of my approach to startup PR and strategic communications, Above The Code.

Above the code story telling : branded content : wayra – buenos aires from Alan Weinkrantz

One slide I added, was at the end of the presentation, I thought it was important to now develop a code of ethics based on the principle of being involved in a startup. Beyond the aspect of starting up a new business, I believe you should also be committed to:

1. Have Fun

2. Create Intellectual and Capital Wealth

3. Do good things that make the world around you slightly better

4. Help others

How about you? In the mix of your startup, what’s important to you and what are you learning in your life’s value system?

Being A Lawyer in Bangalore Sucked; So Siddarth T.C. Moved to Santiago to Create a Way Cool Startup With A Childhood Friend

Alan Weinkrantz — Tue, 23 Apr 2013 10:07:08 +0000

One thing that surprised me during my mentoring gig at GeekCamp Santiago, was the number of startup entrepreneurs who from India. Meet Siddarth T.C., who along with his childhood friend, Siddarth Bharath discovered Chile’s startup culture and moved here to build their soon to be launched travel startup, The Adventure Inc. Siddarth was a lawyer for two years, and not exactly being a happy camper, made a huge life choice to jump into the world of the global startup economy.

How Marcelo Diaz Bowen’s Vision for Geek Camp Is Now Connecting Chile’s Startup Economy Worldwide

Alan Weinkrantz — Mon, 22 Apr 2013 17:08:21 +0000

It would totally stand to reason that I met Santiago, Chile-based, Marcelo Diaz Bowen in Ramallah, Palestine at a conference we both spoke at. Marcelo is a force of nature who travels the world, moving, shaking, rocking, and rolling as he gets stuff done in putting Chile’s startup economy on the global stage.

Starting with his vision of Geek Camp, held on the campus of the Catholic University of Chile, Marcelo reflects the best of Chile’s startup ecosystem.

He conceived the idea of Geek Camp and has grown it into a destination for many of Chiles’s emerging startups to go through the program, which if selected, gets a startup in front of some of the biggest names in Silicon Valley and provides training and mentorship both in Chile and Silicon Valley.

Even if a company is not selected as a finalist to go to Silicon Valley, they still benefit from the program, and often wind up re-tooling their existing idea or joining another team.

From Budapest to Paris to Santiago: How Digital Nomad, Peter Langmar, Starts Up Worldwide

Alan Weinkrantz — Sun, 21 Apr 2013 09:09:30 +0000

Peter Langmar represents an interesting culture of digital nomads that I am meeting. They travel the world, create startups, and live a very rewarding life. From Budapest to Paris and then Santiago, where we met, Peter’s startup, BrickFlow, is in closed beta right now. On BrickFlow, you can aggregate your content from various networks such as Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube and create memorable stories in a compelling format. If you want to get in early, you can send a request from his site.

Here’s his story…